Wannabe Michelle Heaton and her fellow bandmates are following hot on the heels of pop sensations Hear'Say.

Michelle and four fellow Popstars rejects have landed a lucrative advertising deal with Sainsburys.

Michelle, 21, of Gateshead, Tony Lundon, 21, Kelli Young, 18, Jessica Taylor, 20, and Kevin Simm, 20, will appear as a band in their own right in an advert for the superstore's new Music for Schools vouchers scheme.

It is the latest in a series of Sainsburys voucher-based giveaways which has included books and computers.

Michelle's mum Christine, 47, said: "Anything they can do as a band that is for the benefit of children is smashing.

"Michelle is extremely busy at the moment with contracts and legal matters. She is popping back and forwards from London every four or five days. Everything is going really well for them.

"They are expecting to announce the name of the band this week. They are getting a very positive response from the music industry as they have taken their time and have not rushed into anything.

"Michelle and the others like Hear'Say and they all got on well at the auditions but I think they will be quite a different band. Hear'Say appeal to the very young and Michelle and the others are more mature. I think they will be for teenagers and upwards."

Millions watched the televised auditions held across the country in the search for singers to form the manufactured band.

Fans saw Michelle cry when judge, LWT's controller of entertainment nasty Nigel Lythgoe, arrived at her parent's home in Lobley Hill to tell her she had not been picked.

But the five runners-up wasted no time in forming their own band and are signed with London-based War Management, who were behind boy band East 17. They are on the verge of signing their own recording contract and are currently busy writing their own songs and recording in a studio.

A first single could be in the record shops by the end of next month, although Michelle has said the band want to take their time and set their own style.

Michelle said: "I don't feel like we are in Hear'Say's shadow at all. We want to set out our own style and do something a bit different."

Hear'Say have already entered the record books with their single Pure and Simple and album Popstars.

And the band have announced a second date at Newcastle's Telewest Arena in September, after thousands were left disappointed when tickets for the first concert on September 17, became one of the fastest ever to sell out in the North East.